Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to intraocular lenses, and more specifically, to compact intraocular lenses that can be implanted in the eye with a micro-incision.
Description of the Related Art
A human eye can suffer diseases that impair a patient's vision. For example, a cataract can increase the opacity of the lens, ultimately leading to blindness. To restore the patient's vision, the diseased lens may be surgically removed and replaced with an artificial lens, known as an intraocular lens, or IOL. As another example, to treat eye conditions such as myopia, hypermetropia or presbyopia, an intraocular lens can be surgically implanted in the eye to replace or supplement the natural eye.
IOLs can be inserted in the eye through an incision in the eye. The incision size can depend on the material of the IOL, size and structure of the IOL and the mode in which the IOL is delivered in the eye. For example, the incision size can be about 10-12 mm in standard extracapsular surgery, about 5.5-7.0 mm in manual small incision surgery and about 3.0-5.5 mm if phacoemulsification methods are used. Reducing the size of the incision can reduce the complexity of the surgical procedure, reduce post-surgical recovery time and reduce patient discomfort. IOLs that can be implanted in the eye through micro-incisions can advantageously increase patient safety, reduce recovery time and patient discomfort.